Well anyone that knows me also knows everthing I do tends to snowball . I decided that a 502 would not be enough . So I got rid of all the 502 rotating assembly and bought a 4.25 stroke Lunati crank used from a friend . I also sent the heads(Chevy Bowtie Pro Stock) and a Dart Intake to Kenneth Abbot for a workover . When I got them back in 95 they were really state of the art for the time . They were angle milled 125 welded up in a buch of places and filled with epoxy . When I said they were state of the art they were . You couldnt just go buy a set of heads that would flow 413 @ 800 lift . Anyway that stuff just sat in my closet for a few more years . I still didnt have the means to do much else , but when it eventually came together it ended up being a 950 hp 15 to 1 565 !

Not much else happened till 97 when I took the truck to my old friend Tony Smith . Tony is a meticulous fabricator who is also a skilled machinist (which makes him a little slow but the work turns out nice ). We got the ladder bars , tubs , motor plates , wheelie bars ,and the cage done . then it was back to my shop for awhile . Here is a pic from Tonys in 97 that is Kenneth Herring (from Pinks & Pass Time) standing behind the truck . (I believe he was asking why are you doing this)

Back at my shop I built my 5 lug front end and added rack & pinion steering . I was talking to a friend of mine Jeremy Cooper about fixing the bad spots in the paint since the rest of it still looked good even though it was painted in 84 . He volunteered to paint for free if I just bought the materials . The truck had been painted four times so we decided to soda blast it and get it down to bare metal . So I loaded it up and took it to a guy named Lawrence Harper and stripped it down .

Here are some pics during the painting process . By now Im getting fired up . Everything turned out good but my hood got messed up and would not get fixed for a few more years . He tried to have me find another one but I wanted mine and the louver press we used was long gone ..........

Well in 99 Donnel Gaines at G&G machine in Stephenville Tx put the 565 together for me and like I said before it dynoed at 950 hp . My longtime friend David Hale and I built my th400 and I finally got the truck together . By that time all the tracks were closed except for an old outlaw track down by Waco Tx . I had valvetrain issues and kept breaking lashcaps . That combined with a less than marginal racetrack all the old truck could muster was a dissapointing 10 flat . Here is one pic I found from that day......

After that with no more racing till next year I had plenty of time to sort out the problems . I fixed a few bent valves and got the rest of the valve train sorted out . I started the 2000 season at Hallsville and the truck did alot better then . It ran 9.60 @ 138 with a best 60 ft of 1.31 (it still hasnt had a better 60 ft than that ) . I raced all year and at the last race before the bracket finals the 565 gave up . It was late at night on a poorly lit track and it windmilled two rods going through the traps . I still had no hood so when it grenaded the front of the block and virtually cut the oilpan in half the windshield was completely cover in oil , sparks were flying becuase the alternator was destroyed in the process . Hallsville had a short downhill shutdown and I couldnt see a thing (I thought it was going to be real bad) but I got it stopped and off the track . It took all winter to clean up the mess. There was not an inch of the truck that wasnt coated in oil . Here is a pic of the block and the pan .....

After that with no more racing till next year I had plenty of time to sort out the problems . I fixed a few bent valves and got the rest of the valve train sorted out . I started the 2000 season at Hallsville and the truck did alot better then . It ran 9.60 @ 138 with a best 60 ft of 1.31 (it still hasnt had a better 60 ft than that ) . I raced all year and at the last race before the bracket finals the 565 gave up . It was late at night on a poorly lit track and it windmilled two rods going through the traps . I still had no hood so when it grenaded the front of the block and virtually cut the oilpan in half the windshield was completely cover in oil , sparks were flying becuase the alternator was destroyed in the process . Hallsville had a short downhill shutdown and I couldnt see a thing (I thought it was going to be real bad) but I got it stopped and off the track . It took all winter to clean up the mess. There was not an inch of the truck that wasnt coated in oil . Here is a pic of the block and the pan .....

this is about the time the phrase "it could have been worse" started getting used around the shop

Thats alcohol abuse next time throw a wrench it shows em your really serious about trying to inflict pain

__________________
Owner of North Point Car Care in Dundalk Md. We specialize in custom exhaust on both modern and classic vehicles. We are a full service auto shop from classics to modern vehicles. Feel free to contact me with questions. I will give a 10% discount to any board member.

Picking up where I left off . I found a good used Gen 5 block with the splayed billet main caps and a used 4.5 stroke crank and built a 598 . This combo dynoed at 980 hp . I also changed the converter to a 9" from Kenny ford at PTC . I think the converter was too much for the combo and it would only run 9.50 at 139 . Here is a pic of the 598 .

I ran the 598 for another year or so but you know I was never satisfied . Pontiac style 18 degree heads were becoming popular back then and I really wanted some (but they were way too pricey) . I had an old friend Travis Buhman that owns a local camera store come to Hallsville Dragway and take some good pics and made up a folder to send to Jeff and Micheal Brotherton at Brodix in an attempt to get some sort of sponsorship . Here are some of the pics .

Well Brodix didnt give me anything but they did sell me some blems at a reduced price . I also kept my word to put the Brodix insignia on the windshield that is still on there today . I built the new motor with the 18 degree heads and it made 1070 with one 1250 Dominator .....I will have to find more pics to scan so I will have to leave off here . I'm really busy at work right now and I have to pic up all my motor pieces and get started on that this weekend so I dont know when I will post more .

Great story Regan! Did you ever race any at the Paris dragstrip? I had a good friend, Donald Blake, that used to run a black and gold 70 done there in the early to mid 80s. His truck was running in the 12's at the time and was pretty sporty for an old truck, . He drove his truck to the races and used to have to leave a couple of hours early because of the 4.56 gears, . Speaking of the Brodix Boys, I grew up about 20 miles from their shop. They use to have some of the baddest 67-72 trucks in town. Nobody wanted to mess with them on the street.... Great memories and even better story, keep it coming.